Second, the fires could burn up larger sections of forest. Small islands of forest often survive even within otherwise burned areas, said Brian Harvey , an ecologist at the University of Washington, and seeds from these preserved areas often blow into the surrounding burned forests or are carried there by animals. This reseeding method is especially important at higher altitudes where lodgepoles don’t produce serotinous cones. Photo. “But what we’re seeing now is more homogeneous burning throughout the forests, with fewer islands of unburned areas,” Dr. Harvey said. “When that happens, there are fewer seed sources to replace the stands.”. That’s important here because lodgepoles make up 8... Full story